Federation Internationale De Football Association Research Articles

Women's Football: An Examination of Factors That Influence Movement Patterns.

Griffin, J, Larsen, B, Horan, S, Keogh, J, Dodd, K, Andretta, M, and Minahan, C. Title: Women's football: An examination of factors that influence movement patterns. J Strength Cond Res 34(8): 2384-2393, 2020-The popularity and professionalism of women's football has increased in conjunction with participation rates over the last 10 years, with projected female participation rates to double worldwide by 2026. Scientific interest has also increased, in part due to Fédération Internationale de Football Association now allowing global positioning system (GPS) units to be worn during all competitive matches, resulting in investigations into the match demands of women's football. Therefore, the purpose of the present review is to provide a summary of the literature specific to the movement patterns of women's football matches. Contemporary scientific investigation using GPS match data has led to a greater understanding of the movement patterns of football. Greater emphasis has been placed on high-speed running and sprinting during matches because of the strong link to scoring opportunities and being a distinguishing factor between international and national along with elite and subelite competition levels. Further research, however, is warranted in regard to accelerations and decelerations, given the high metabolic and mechanical loads and contribution to high-speed running and sprinting. With an influx of research into the movement patterns of match-play, investigators have begun to examine factors affecting match performance such as positional demands, age, level of competition, opponent, scoreline, and phase of the game. An understanding of the factors that influence match demands is vital to ultimately be able to understand the effects on performance and how manipulating these factors may improve football performance and reduce the risk of injury.

Playing with or without Politics: Studying the Position of East Germany within the FIS and FIFA from a Long-Term Perspective (1924–1962)

The present paper looks at the different positions two major international sport federations, the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the Fédération Internationale de Ski (FIS), took with respect to East Germany during the 1950s. Because these positions were greatly influenced by FIFA’s and the FIS’s prior relations with Germany and by the challenges posed by global politics, this study begins by examining these relations during the interwar period. By combining information from the FIFA, FIS, and International Olympic Committee (IOC) archives with documents from the German national archives and articles published in Switzerland’s sporting press, the authors were able to highlight differences between the two federations’ approaches and show the need for studies to go beyond an IOC-centric approach.

Engineering Design Challenges in Realization of a Very Large IP-Based Television Facility

<italic xmlns:mml="http://www.w3.org/1998/Math/MathML" xmlns:xlink="http://www.w3.org/1999/xlink">In 2016, NBCUniversal (NBCU) broke ground on Telemundo Center, the new Miami-based global headquarters for Telemundo Enterprises. The facility, which features 13 production studios and 7 control rooms supporting scripted episodic content, daily live news, and sports programming, went live in Spring 2018 with the coverage of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup. At the time of launch, Telemundo Center was home to the largest SMPTE ST 2110 environment in the world, consisting of over 12,000 unique high-definition (HD) sources and 150,000 multicast streams across audio and video. The technical decision to use a software-defined video network infrastructure was essential to supporting the scale and flexibility of a facility of this magnitude. This article explores the major considerations and challenges in building such a large-scale, all-Internet Protocol (IP) broadcast production facility, including design factors around switching video flows, redundancy, control and orchestration, Precision Time Protocol (PTP) master clock systems, and handoffs to multimanufacturer SMPTE ST 2110 devices as well as non-IP-enabled devices. We also review our experiences and lessons learned with utilizing software-defined network (SDN) control plane and routing commands that abstract the underlying physical and link-level connectivity</i> .

Collective Decision-making: FIFA from the Perspective of Public Choice

AbstractVarious scandals have shaken public confidence in football's global governing body,Fédération Internationale de Football Association(FIFA). It is evident that decision-making within such a collective provides incentives for corruption. We apply the Buchanan-Tullock model that is known from Public Choice theory to study collective decision-making within FIFA. On the basis of this theoretical model, we develop specific proposals that can contribute to combating corruption. Three core aspects are discussed: the selection of the World Cup host, transparency in the allocation of budgets, and clear guidelines for FIFA officials and bodies with regard to their rights and accountability. Our insights can contribute to a better understanding of collective decision making in heterogenous groups.

Short-Term FIFA 11+ Improves Agility and Jump Performance in Young Soccer Players.

Studies dealing with the effectiveness of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) 11+ prevention program to improve performance outcomes in children aged < 14 years are limited. This study aimed to point out the effects of the application of short-term FIFA 11+ warm-up program on physical performance in young football players. Participants were 36 youth male football players, divided into a FIFA 11+ (n = 19; mean (SD) age: 11.15 (0.79) y) and a control group (CG: n = 17; age: 10.87 (0.8) y) and trained for 4 weeks. Before and after the training period, standing long jump performance, agility, repeated sprint ability, sit and reach, and “30–15” intermittent fitness tests were assessed. A mixed ANOVA showed significant differences between the groups in the standing long jump test (FIFA 11+: 5.6% vs. CG: −1.9%) in favor of FIFA 11+ over CG. Additionally, the FIFA 11+ performance of the Illinois agility test was significantly better compared to the CG performance (FIFA 11+: −1.9% vs. CG: 0.03%). The main findings of this study suggest that just 4 weeks of implementation of the FIFA 11+ improves physical performance compared with traditional warm-up routines in young soccer players.

Diferencias en las concentraciones de cortisol en día de partido en jugadores internacionales de fútbol: titulares vs no titulares

Objetivo: La hormona cortisol participa en situaciones de respuestas fisiológicas y conductuales, preparando al organismo para actuar en un momento de estrés de naturaleza física, insegura, o como lo es la competición deportiva, de ésta manera, se pretende como objetivo principal analizar las respuestas del cortisol de 20 futbolistas (titulares y no titulares) de nivel internacional durante un día de partido de competición.&#x0D; Método: Durante la Copa Mundial de la Fédération Internationale de Football Association 2018 en Rusia, fueron seleccionados 20 jugadores de un equipo nacional para obtener un perfil individualizado de los jugadores, analizándose durante el día de partido, mediante análisis salival en los primeros 30 minutos tras despertar (8.00 am). Para el análisis estadístico de diferencias entre grupos, se utilizó t-student (Grupo: titulares / no titulares) × 1 (Tiempo: basal).&#x0D; Resultados: Con los resultados obtenidos, observamos un aumento en la Respuesta al Despertar del Cortisol en función de si los jugadores jugaban de inicio como titulares o iniciaban como no titulares, existiendo diferencia significativa (p=0.005; P= 0.105) entre ambos grupos.&#x0D; Conclusiones: Se observó un perfil diferenciado, con una diferencia en aumento de cortisol de los jugadores titulares, pudiendo deberse a un incremento de la tensión precompetitiva propia, en muchos casos necesaria para encarar la competición.

Standing on a glass cliff?: A case study of FIFA’s gender initiatives

ABSTRACTRationale/Purpose: The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has taken gender equality1 initiatives by inaugurating a female leadership development programme (FLDP)2 as well as appointing women3 in leadership positions. As such, we draw from a new theoretical notion, glass cliff to explore why FIFA started FLDP and assigned women to leadership ranks. Methodology/Approach: Semi-structured interviews were conducted with 16 women who accomplished FLDP. Findings and Implications: There was no direct evidence to support the glass cliff phenomenon in FIFA’s gender-related actions. Although the results are inconclusive, some evidence showed that FIFA’s gender initiatives emerged during their reforming processes in 2015. Our findings demonstrated that FIFA’s historic appointments of women to leadership positions after the corruption and the continuance of FLDP are concerned with the glass cliff effect, as women have never been sought as leaders in football governance. We addressed practical and theoretical implications and suggestions for future research.

Qatar 2022 World Cup: Designing a Context-Based Decision-Making Approach

The case presents a challenging decision that the new Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) President faced with the Qatar 2022 World Cup. Specifically, the issues surround the agreement that the President signed a year after his election with Qatar Airways and the allegations made against the 2022 World Cup host country, Qatar, for human rights violations and state-sponsored terrorism. Right after the allegation was made against Qatar, the President formed an advisory group to help prepare him to make a rational decision on the case. You have been appointed as the members of the advisory board that is tasked with investigating and making recommendations on the President’s challenge of keeping his campaign promises of restoring FIFA’s image and raising more money for the federation.

Does Massage Help Athletes After Exercise?

During the 2018 FIFA (Federation Internationale de Football Association) World Cup, France's national football team—the eventual champions—played 7 soccer matches in 30 days.[1][1] Similarly, the Union of European Football Associations teams regularly compete in 9 or more games per month.[2][2

FIFA Transfer Sisteminde Çocuk Haklarının Korunması

The protection of minors is an important legal and social issue which concerns all stakeholders. Recently, the high mobility level of minors within the football industry has raised questions about their welfare and rights. Particularly, the exposure of young players to emotional and physical harm, financial exploitation, and human trafficking through engaging with football are the most crucial subjects in this field. This fact has been motivated international, regional and national football authorities like the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the Union of European Football Associations (UEFA) to develop a necessary legal framework for the protection of children. International agreements such as the United Nations Convention on the Rights of the Child and the national legislations of the States that are parties to these agreements have not been adequate to provide child athletes with enough protection from emotional and physical harm, economical exploitation and human trafficking. With a view to protecting minors from the detrimental impacts of such practices, FIFA, together with other stakeholders in football, has developed and implemented strict regulations for international transfers. Originally adopted and introduced in 2001, the Regulations on the Status and Transfer of Players (RSTP) that govern the international transfer of minors, went through modifications in 2005, 2009, and 2015 to expand its scope to improve the protection given to young players. In this paper the protection of child rights shall be considered and reviewed under the FIFA and UEFA rules and regulations in the light of the CAS decisions. This is because the CAS has been an integral part of this regulatory regime for not only being a supreme arbitral authority resolving disputes related to the violations of the framework by football stakeholders but for also clarifying its practical operation through its jurisprudence by examining and interpreting its specific provisions.

Electrocardiographic and Echocardiographic Findings in Elite Ghanaian Male Soccer Players.

To analyze the athlete's heart of adult and adolescent elite male soccer players by electrocardiography (ECG) and echocardiography (ECHO) and to describe typical ECG and ECHO findings in this cohort (West African elite soccer players). A cross-sectional study of ECGs and ECHOs conducted as part of precompetition medical assessment for national male soccer teams preparing for various Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) tournaments in 2016 and 2017. Ghana National Football Association. One hundred fifty-nine players playing for the National male soccer teams preparing for tournaments in 2016 and 2017. Precompetition medical assessment using ECGs and ECHOs. Number of athletes with abnormal ECGs and ECHO findings. Twenty-three percent of the players had abnormal ECGs. Nine percent of the participants had T-wave inversions in lateral leads (V5-V6). Sokolow-Lyon criteria for left ventricular hypertrophy were present in 64% of participants. Thirty-six (23%) players had left ventricular wall thickness (LVWT) ≥13 mm, with no player exceeding 16 mm. Four percent of players had left ventricular cavity dimension greater than 60 mm. Relative wall thickness >0.42 was present in 44% of the players. Uncommon ECG changes seem to be more common in elite Ghanaian soccer players compared with previously reported results for Caucasians and even mixed populations of black athletes. Although ST elevation, T-wave inversions, and LVWT up to 15 mm are common, ST depression, deep T-waves in lateral leads, and LVWT ≥16 mm always warrant further clinical and scientific investigations.

Whose Game? FIFA, Corruption and the Challenge of Global Governance

Abstract The present review essay provides an analysis of the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) from the point of view of global governance. Through a review of five books on corruption in FIFA, written for a general audience, the essay describes FIFA as an institution of global governance in which several forms of corruption are widespread among its member organizations and confederations and within the FIFA leadership. This review essay uses the accounts of corruption in FIFA that these books provide to argue that corruption helps solve coordination problems in FIFA by coordinating divergent interests, allocating or distributing funds and allowing for a network of diverse and diffuse actors to fundamentally shape global football. The systemic use of bribing and the exchange of political favours and other means of informal allocation of power are more than mere spontaneous illegalities; they represent an informal, but systematic, means of governance in FIFA. We argue that the February 2016 FIFA reforms fell short of addressing this activity. The reviewed books all call for governing FIFA in the public interest, and the essay presents some pathways to reform and potential replacements for the use of corruption with the aim of returning the game to the general public.

Decrease in Attentional Performance After Repeated Bouts of High Intensity Exercise in Association-Football Referees and Assistant Referees.

Referees and assistant referees are submitted to high physical stress during matches. Pressure to make decisions in front of large crowds is another potential stressor. These two stressors can impair attention executive control, depending on physical fitness and individual vulnerability or resilience to situational pressure. Error percentage for referees and assistants may reach around 14% during a soccer match. Although previous studies have suggested that soccer referees and assistants should take cognitive assessments, they are only required by Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) to demonstrate knowledge of the rules and pass annually in a fitness test (FIFA-Test). This study aimed to assess attention performance in referees and assistants before and after the mandatory FIFA-Test. It is hypothesized that the high physical demands associated with the pressure to pass the FIFA-Test would interfere with attention performance. The sample included 33 referees and 20 assistants. The Continuous Visual Attention Test (CVAT) consisted of a 15-min Go/No-go task. Performance in the CVAT is based on four variables: omission and commission errors, reaction time, and variability of reaction time (VRT). Failure in the CVAT was defined by a performance below the 5th percentile of the age- and sex-matched normative data in at least one variable of the CVAT. Before the FIFA-Test all participants performed the CVAT. The second CVAT began 3–7 min directly following completion of the FIFA-test. Considering only the officials who passed both the FIFA-Test and the first CVAT (19 referees and 15 assistants), 44% (9 referees and 6 assistants) exhibited a performance decline in the second CVAT. A significant increase in VRT was found after the high intensity exercise. As increase in VRT is thought to reflect executive dysfunctions and lapses of attention, we concluded that physical fitness alone may not be enough to help officials cope with the physical and contextual stresses associated with the FIFA-Test. These data suggest that over 35% of soccer referees and their assistants who were considered physically able to referee matches may not be mentally prepared for the attentional demands of refereeing soccer matches.

A new approach to study the relative age effect with the use of additive logistic regression models: A case of study of FIFA football tournaments (1908-2012).

The relative age effect plays an important role in the pursuit of excellence, providing advantage to athletes born at the beginning of the year or near the cut-off date. This phenomenon has been observed in areas such as sports, education or business. Traditionally, the chi-square test has been used to analyze whether there are statistically significant differences in the distribution of births in each of the four quarters of the year. However, this approach is limited, focusing only on the analysis of the response variable, without taking into account the effect of a set of predictive variables. In this paper a new approach is proposed to study the relative age effect with the use of a logistic regression additive model. The new method has been evaluated with a sample of 21,639 players involved in football tournaments organized by the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) between 1908 and 2012. New conclusions have been established that the relative age effect exists regarding player age and the year of the competition in male FIFA competitions and its effect is dynamic and complex.

Injury Surveillance in Major League Soccer: A 4-Year Comparison of Injury on Natural Grass Versus Artificial Turf Field

Background: Artificial playing surfaces are becoming more common due to decreased cost of maintenance and increased field usability across different environmental conditions. The Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) has approved newer generation artificial turf for soccer competition at the elite level, but many elite-level athletes prefer to play on natural grass surfaces due to a perceived increase in injury rate, discomfort, and fatigability on artificial turf. Hypothesis: Injury rates and rates of individually categorized types of injury experienced on artificial turf are noninferior to rates of injury on the standard comparator, natural grass, in elite-level Major League Soccer athletes. Study Design: Cohort study; Level of evidence, 2. Methods: Over the course of 4 Major League Soccer seasons (2013-2016), athlete injury data were recorded electronically. Injury data recorded in matches between 2 Major League Soccer teams were then analyzed. Playing surface was known for each venue, and all artificial turf surfaces were rated as 2-star according to FIFA criteria. Incidence rate ratios (Artificial Turf ÷ Natural Grass) were calculated with a 95% CI (α = .05) for both overall injury incidence and individual injury subgroups. A noninferiority margin (δ) of 0.15 was used to determine noninferiority of injury incidence rates. Results: A total of 2174 in-game injuries were recorded during the study period, with 1.54 injuries per game on artificial turf and 1.49 injuries per game on natural grass (incidence rate ratio, 1.033; 95% CI, 0.937-1.139). Within injury subgroups, overall ankle injury, Achilles injury, and ankle fracture were found to have a statistically higher incidence on artificial turf. Artificial turf was found to be noninferior to natural grass for overall foot injury and forefoot injury. No statistically significant differences were found in knee injuries between the 2 surfaces. Conclusion: The overall rate of injury on artificial turf was noninferior to that on natural grass. Within individual injury categories, a higher rate of ankle injury was found on artificial turf. No other injury subgroup demonstrated statistically significant differences between surfaces. Clinical Relevance: FIFA 2-star rated artificial turf is a viable alternative to natural grass in elite-level soccer competition. Innovative research methods for comparing artificial turf versus natural grass may elucidate relative advantages with respect to player safety.

Copa America: a resource-based theory of football talent

PurposeGuided by the resource-based theory, the purpose of this study was to predict the role of football talent in the Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) rankings of the men’s national football teams in the Copa America zone.Design/methodology/approachThe study used archival data of Copa American national football teams. The dependent variable was FIFA rankings, and the independent variables were football talent (measured by the stocks of amateur footballers, professional footballers and football officials). Statistical analysis was performed using Kendall tau statistic and binary logistic regression.FindingsThe binary logistic regression results indicated that FIFA rankings were statistically and significantly associated with the stock of football officials and professional footballers – but not amateur footballers. The predictive model explained 80 per cent of the variance.Research limitations/implicationsThe study focused exclusively on the stock of football talent in each nation, and not alternative determinants of national football team competitiveness as economic power and quality of professional football leagues, among others.Practical implicationsThe stocks of professional footballers and football officials are valuable sources of competitive advantage (CA) in national football team rankings.Originality/valueThe study highlighted the uniqueness and distinctiveness of a nation possessing large stocks of professional footballers which can boost the CA and rankings of Copa American national football teams.

Review of Musculoskeletal Injury Prevention in Female Soccer Athletes

This paper aims to review the recent literature regarding the prevention of musculoskeletal injuries in female soccer athletes. Female soccer players are at risk for many musculoskeletal injuries, mostly involving the lower extremities, due to anatomic, hormonal, and biomechanical factors. Various programs are available that target overall injury prevention, as well as specifically the prevention of anterior cruciate ligament (ACL), ankle, and overuse injuries. The Federation Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) 11+ is the most well-studied program for overall injury prevention and has been shown to have modest but significant effects in injury incidence. Prevention of ACL injuries is also well studied, and multiple programs have been shown to significantly reduce incidence, especially in youth athletes. Fewer current studies are available regarding ankle and overuse injuries. Musculoskeletal injury prevention programs are available for female soccer players and may be effective in decreasing the incidence of certain injuries. There are clear differences in injury patterns in females compared to males, and further research is needed to specifically look at injury prevention in this population.

Use of Predictive Modeling to Plan for Special Event Medical Care During Mass Gathering Events.

In 2010, South Africa (SA) hosted the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) World Cup (soccer). Emergency Medical Services (EMS) used the SA mass gathering medicine (MGM) resource model to predict resource allocation. This study analyzed data from the World Cup and compared them with the resource allocation predicted by the SA mass gathering model. Prospectively, data were collected from patient contacts at 9 venues across the Western Cape province of South Africa. Required resources were based on the number of patients seeking basic life support (BLS), intermediate life support (ILS), and advanced life support (ALS). Overall patient presentation rates (PPRs) and transport to hospital rates (TTHRs) were also calculated. BLS services were required for 78.4% (n = 1279) of patients and were consistently overestimated using the SA mass gathering model. ILS services were required for 14.0% (n = 228), and ALS services were required for 3.1% (n = 51) of patients. Both ILS and ALS services, and TTHR were underestimated at smaller venues. The MGM predictive model overestimated BLS requirements and inconsistently predicted ILS and ALS requirements. MGM resource models, which are heavily based on predicted attendance levels, have inherent limitations, which may be improved by using research-based outcomes.

International Sport Federations’ Social Media Communication: A Content Analysis of FIFA’s Twitter Account

This study aimed to analyze the way Twitter is used by international sport federations (ISFs) to interact and engage with their followers. A content analysis of 5,389 online messages tweeted by FIFA (Fédération Internationale de Football Association) using NVivo qualitative data-analysis software was conducted between August 2014 and January 2015. Results suggest that FIFA does not use Twitter to its full potential, mainly sharing 1-way information rather than engaging to a greater level with its followers. The research highlights the importance of effectively using Twitter as a potential powerful communication tool for ISFs, which are understood as meta-organizations whose members are organizations themselves. Communicating about social development and engaging followers, including their affiliated national sport associations, could potentially increase ISFs’ reputation and build trust among followers and stakeholders.

Advancing Research at the RoboCup@Home Competition [Competitions

RoboCup (https://www.robocup.org/) is an annual international robotics competition, founded in 1996, that aims to promote robotics and artificial-intelligence research. The initial challenge was for a team of robots to play soccer: it was the first competition that used soccer games to promote research and education. The goal of RoboCup is as follows: By the middle of the 21st century, a team of fully autonomous, humanoid, robot soccer players shall win a soccer game, complying with the official rules of the Federation Internationale de Football Association, against the winner of the most recent World Cup.